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How did you get into Prog?

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Sacro_Porgo View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sacro_Porgo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 00:38
It all started when I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody. I knew from then on that I loved it when songs got weird and took big risks. From there it was Queen II, then Rush, then Yes and Pink Floyd and eventually Genesis with Supper's Ready.
Porg for short. My love of music doesn't end with prog! Feel free to discuss all sorts of music with me. Odds are I'll give it a chance if I haven't already! :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Green Shield Stamp Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 02:39
In the summer of 1979 when I was 15 I bought Dark Side of the Moon, Selling England by the Pound, Close to the Edge, Aqualung and Stratosfear from a small record shop in Ludlow, Shropshire. The young man who worked there was very knowledgeable and guided my buying decisions. I owe him a lot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Frenetic Zetetic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 02:57
I was talking with a fellow musician, and we both funnily enough agreed that we were "intuitively prog" before we consciously realized what that may mean. Meaning, we always naturally preferred odd meter, off-beat, math-like-passages that were unconventional relative to popular music.

I'd say I finally consciously embraced what was natural for me about 2008 when I finally picked up Yes "Fragile" CD at Newbury Comics in Boston. Then came "Close to The Edge" and "Tales From Topographic Oceans", and the rest was history. I was already a jazz nerd so add rock to that mix and I'm SOLD!

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote friso Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 03:23
I was already listening to Iron Maiden and some Metallica since age 11, a love that was sparked by my brothers. I bought a heavy metal magazine when I was fourteen and found articles on Kamelot's 'Epica' and Arena's 'Contagion' (both just released) and started downloading the songs. I was utterly amazed by how magical rock could be. Kayak's 'Merlin' was also amongst my first albums. When searching on progressive rock I also found King Crimson's debut, which hooked me on older progressive. At that time I also started listening to Camel's 'Coming of Age'. I've been listening to vinyls after I turned fifteen, and amongst my earliest vinyl's were records of Kayak, Camel, Kansas, Jethro Tull and King Crimson.
I'm guitarist and songwriter for the prog-related band Mother Bass. Find us at http://www.motherbass.com. I also enter stages throughout the Netherlands performing my poetry.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tom Ozric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 04:33
.......continuing the story - I never had any family or friends that steered me in any direction whatsoever, it was all by myself. I worked out what the Mellotron sound was through my Trick Of the Tail Record - well I. Know the organ, the piano, the synth sounds, what makes this ‘fake’ choir sound, what makes the string symphony sound so false, yet captivating ?? Must be that Mellotron thing in the credits.....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Enchant X Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 04:42
I grew up in my teens in the 80's ... I knew there must be something more to music than what I was hearing on the radio ... I purchased Yes 90125 because owner of a lonely heart was the only radio song I liked ... I really liked this album then I purchased Classic Yes ... it started from there, one thing led to another and not before long I discovered bands like King Crimson etc. This really opened up my mind.
 I just knew what I was hearing on the radio in the 80's wasn't that good, there surely must be more to music than 3 chords and a drum machine at 120 beats per minute. I was about 14 years old when the desire for stronger more complex music became needed for me to fulfill my needs and most of the stuff on MTV and the radio was utter crap, designed to make money not to fill my artistic needs. SO I broke out of the chains of commerce and set my music spirit free, Progressive rock just happened to be the vehicle for me. 
I can see why people turn to underground jazz and other things they aren't getting from the media. Even still today I think the music played on radio is crap, they wouldn't know a good prog song if they fell over it and that's a damn shame because I believe progressive rock really has a huge potential market. Most people surely couldn't be that dumb to settle for what's on just whats on radio ... surely not. 
I admit part of the appeal of progressive rock was to go against society and be my own person, but I really do love it.    Big smile  


Edited by Enchant X - April 18 2020 at 05:27
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Tom Ozric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 04:48
I was always ridiculed for my music tastes ....... get f**ked EVERYONE !!!!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rick1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 05:40
I didn't know it at the time but it was largely thanks to being fascinated by reading about the bands in Melody Maker in the mid 70s and what I heard on the Alan Freeman Saturday afternoon Rock Show.  The first prog band I saw was Druid in 1976 (I was 13 or 14) and the first 'prog' album I owned was 'Dark Side'...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nogbad_The_Bad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 07:50
Friends introduced me to music and i enjoyed it. Think it was Floyd, Yes and Genesis first.
Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JD Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 08:13
So, born in 1958, by the age of 8 (1966) I was a regular listener of am radio on my small hand held "Transistor" radio. This exposed me to a plethora of Pop and Psychedelic music of the time. The obvious hits from such bands as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin as well as songs like Crimson and Clover, Spirit in the Sky, Venus. Although I really wasn't up on the names of the bands.

But it was probably the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire" (1969) that was the first really progressive tune to catch my ear. Of course I had no idea who it was but I knew the song and loved it. A year later, at the age of 12 I remember hearing a song on late night FM radio out of Detroit that was amazing and had this really cool ending where it was like some one had unplugged the turntable. Again, I never heard who it was so had no idea of the band's name.

A few month's later at a summer "Drop in Centre", as we used to call them, basically the local high school cafeteria that was open to kids during the summer, I heard the same song being played on the stereo in the cafe. I located the album cover, a dove fluttering it's wings and on the back side a person's head. Yup, ELP's first album.

Hooks firmly planted deep within my psyche. I've been a devout ELP fan and Prog Rock fan ever since.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 09:48
Originally posted by Enchant X Enchant X wrote:

I grew up in my teens in the 80's ... I knew there must be something more to music than what I was hearing on the radio ... I purchased Yes 90125 because owner of a lonely heart was the only radio song I liked ... I really liked this album then I purchased Classic Yes ... it started from there, one thing led to another and not before long I discovered bands like King Crimson etc. This really opened up my mind.
 I just knew what I was hearing on the radio in the 80's wasn't that good, there surely must be more to music than 3 chords and a drum machine at 120 beats per minute. I was about 14 years old when the desire for stronger more complex music became needed for me to fulfill my needs and most of the stuff on MTV and the radio was utter crap, designed to make money not to fill my artistic needs. SO I broke out of the chains of commerce and set my music spirit free, Progressive rock just happened to be the vehicle for me. 
I can see why people turn to underground jazz and other things they aren't getting from the media. Even still today I think the music played on radio is crap, they wouldn't know a good prog song if they fell over it and that's a damn shame because I believe progressive rock really has a huge potential market. Most people surely couldn't be that dumb to settle for what's on just whats on radio ... surely not. 
I admit part of the appeal of progressive rock was to go against society and be my own person, but I really do love it.    Big smile  

Much of this resembles my experience(which I already posted about) although I was never as vehemently opposed to radio music as you seem to be(I still think there's good music played on the radio but the problem is much of it is overplayed). I also bought 90125 first then classic yes then got into other stuff including KC like you did at probably around the same general time period. For the most part though I was never that much into what was being played on the radio back then(the current stuff I mean). Some of it was good, some of it was ok and some of it was just pretty unbearable. However, I typically don't have anything against mainstream music per se. 

The thing is most people just haven't been exposed to prog. There are a lot of people who like non mainstream music but they just don't know(or haven't been exposed to prog). I think at this point most people who are going to be into it are already into it(well at least those who are over 25 or so; younger fans might still be exploring new music). It's something that you kind of have to find out about by accident since you typically won't hear about it through friends, family, the mainstream media(tv, radio, etc)or the internet(unless you go searching for it).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Manuel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 18 2020 at 09:58
Since I like playing the guitar, I was always looking for great guitarists and guitar music. Some time in 1972 Somebody played "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix, and I loved it. It opened a whole new dimension for me (keep in mind that in Central America this type of music was not popular and hardly known). A friend suggested I should check out Jethro Tull, since they had an interesting combination of acoustic and electric guitars. After working for a few weeks during my school break, I got some money and I went to a record store that had some imported records, I found "Stand Up" by Jethro Tull and bought it. I instantly fell in love with it and I've been hooked since then. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Uncle Mort Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 03:16
First post, first prog record.

I went to school with Des Simmons and Colin Newman (later of Wire fame, bit of name dropping there). Around 1970/71 one music lesson we had a stand-in teacher who allowed us to bring in our own records to listen to. Des bought in Emmerson Lake & Palmer's first album. That was it, had to have this. Took a bit of tracking down but that was the first, after that it was Yes, Genesis, VdGG et all.
 
Funnily enough after all these years and many listens it is still one of those records that I still cannot say I 'like'.  
I'm with the band.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kristian_Cole Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 05:02
By search for complexity in music. Or....via Yes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lewian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 05:40
My parents had a big influence, which is weird, because they weren't really very interested in music. My mother was keen on exposing me to all kinds of influences, and once she decided that we should watch Yellow Submarine. I was 7 or 8. I think. I totally loved it and was an absolute Beatles fan for two years or so. Already liked their later work more than the earlier less psychedelic/progressive stuff. However I didn't get into much else at that age except Abba and Boney M. When I was 12 in 1979, my father played Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Watch in the car, and that totally blew me away, all these instrumental parts and what the guitar and the keyboards did, plus there are some cool melodies on that album. It impressed me even more than the Beatles and I decided, this kind of music it is for me. Funnily my father didn't even know what that tape was, it was just flying around in his car, and he told me it is Elton John, which actually was on the other side of the tape. He must have had some interest when he was younger, he had some good albums like Aqualung, ELP Trilogy and Welcome Back my Friends, Deep Purple's Fireball and some Novalis, but he wouldn't listen to this stuff anymore, so I basically took them over. At about the same time a very good friend of mine got into Pink Floyd through his older brother and we discovered them together. Another friend was into the more melodic side, like Supertramp, Barclay James Harvest, Alan Parsons Project,  end 70s Genesis. I started to do research on my own and discovered the Germans and the French, Tangerine Dream, Eloy, Can, Amon Düül II, Gong, Magma...  We had some good exchange, I wasn't alone.

An anecdote is that when I discovered Pink Floyd and more progressive stuff at 12 or so, I decided that I should grow up and ditch the Beatles. I sold all their albums to buy Manfred Mann's Earth Band  and the like. Biggest mistake ever, I'm back to the Fab Four.



Edited by Lewian - April 20 2020 at 16:16
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mudpuppy64 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 10:45
Originally posted by Tom Ozric Tom Ozric wrote:

Originally posted by Mudpuppy64 Mudpuppy64 wrote:

Smoked my first Joint. My friend put on some Tull . That was it .  early 70s
Which Tull ??


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Songtoad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 11:04
I used to sometimes, as a kid, in between evenings put on some vinyls from my dad´s collection - he had stuff like Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, J.J. Cale, a bit of Zappa and my mom had David Bowie, Lou Reed, Buena Vista Social Club and etc. 

But it was first when my uncle gave me the "All Music Guide" cd or dvd, when i was 15. I It´s a kind of musical encyclopedia, and i looked up stuff that i had gotten to know through my dad and moms collections. I got to read alot of the Biography of the classic prog bands, and i extensively used the "similar artists" tab alot and from there i just downloaded classic tracks through Napster, then KaZaa, then Torrent sites, Soulseek and Youtube!

Some of my friends on Soulseek in the "Prog Not Frog" chat room used to link me to the(ir) site.


Which is awesome, because it has SO much rare material, and very diverse genres - just the thing for a real Prog nerd as myself! Wink

Eventually i got my lil´bro into prog, and he very oftens thanks me for doing so - and i usually tell him that i am just grateful and happy that i can share this wonderful music with my close family!

Cheers! - Songtoad (Saint Lawrence)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rrattlesnake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 11:17
Pink Floyd's Echoes was playing on the radio. I opened Shazam, listened to the whole thing, and it spiraled out of control from there
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 16:24
In terms of rock, all I knew before 74, was Beatles, Stones & Tull (Stand Up & Aqualung).

That year, Harmonium's debut album took French-speaking Canada by storm.
Then in September 74, the record shop next to the school had the Crime Of The Century  album in the vitrine and I just had to listen to it. Next day, I brought it home and never looked back.
Up next in the next few months were DSOTM, ITCOTCK, 5è Saison SEBTP, ITLOG&P, TAAB, etc...


Edited by Sean Trane - April 20 2020 at 01:53
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Machinemessiah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 19 2020 at 20:28

I came from classic rock; with my dad we listened to a classic rock radio station that still exists; he knew Zeppelin (IV), Creedence, Doors, and through him I was a fan of all those as well.


In the summer of '89 or '90 I think it was.. I listened to Pink Floyd 'Wish You Were Here' song. Then one day at the local mall we passed outside a music store and I asked my dad for two bucks to buy me the whole cassette.

That cassette went round and round every morning at the car's stereo on the road to school.

At first I rewinded the tape every time to listen only to Side 2's 'Have a Cigar' and 'WYWH' but slowly, 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond VI - IX started creeping in each time for longer listens  : )

After that it was all friends (school class mates) with older brothers that lent me cassettes and then CD's. One that also went round at the car was 'Thick as a Brick''s original cassette. Another one I remember fondly was the double cased Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on CD; that was a beauty Big smile.

In pre-internet era, and after the fact (70's) it was all through friends for me. Rush and Marillion came from two other class mates respectively. My mother and grandmother gifted me Rush's 'Chronicles' double CD for my 15th. birthday Tongue. King Crimson from yet another particular class mate, Joaco (Joaquín), that came from another school. One day I went to his home after school and he showed 'Discipline' to me on CD on his house's receiver-style stereo. I was stunned; borrowed it from him the same evening and took it home. It was '94.

Zappa came at the University through another school friend, though not the same class, that was also there with me. 

Finally, Mahavishnu, PFM, Maxophone, Caravan and Renaissance came through a friend's older than us friend, that had a massive CD collection and was kind enough to lend to us.




Edited by Machinemessiah - April 30 2020 at 12:15
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